Jef Rietsma | Special to the GazettePatricia Hanavan, of First Presbyterian Church of Richland, addressed a group of more than 200 people attending an immigration reform rally Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo. Also pictured is interpreter Justin Carunchia.
KALAMAZOO — Frequent chants of “Si, se puede” were spontaneously called during an immigration reform rally Sunday at First United Methodist Church, and if those in attendance play a role in passage of reform, the cries of “Yes, we can” will prove prophetic.

The bilingual gathering took part in the program “Hear the Cry,” co-organized by the Kalamazoo branch of the Michigan Organizing Project and the group Reform Immigration for America.

Sunday’s message — shared through music, prayer and testimony from six people of diverse backgrounds — focused on an immigration-reform bill that sits in committee in Congress.

“We’re here today because we are a people of faith, people of the church and we are family,” said the Rev. Joan Herbon, from Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Portage. She said following the word of Jesus means to love people without regard to race or ethnicity.

Herbon’s message about equality was echoed by other speakers, including Ruth Thomas, 81, a parishioner at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Portage. Thomas risked her life by fleeing East Germany at 17 and became an immigrant again after leaving West Germany at 22 to come to the United States.

Thomas said that like many immigrants generations before her, coming to the United States for a chance at what she imagined would someday be a better life for her children and grandchildren was a driving force.

“Many people today find themselves doing the same thing … we’ve always been a nation of immigrants,” she said.

Maria Toledo talked about being one of eight children, living in a one-room hut in Mexico. With no opportunities for employment, money was scarce and the family often went a day or two without food. Toledo said she was 11 before she owned her first pair of shoes.

At 18, Toledo said she, too, risked her life leaving her native country for a place where she hoped better prospects awaited.

“I found a job and my first check was $200,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it; that’s a lot of money.”

Today, the oldest of Toledo's two sons is attending college, a place she is sure he would not have had the opportunity to be had she stayed in Mexico.

Also addressing the audience were Lauren Pott, a kindergarten teacher at Greenwood Elementary in Kalamazoo; Steve Zylstra, proprietor of Zylstra Greenhouses; George White, from Vanguard Church; and Pat Hanavan, from the First Presbyterian Church in Richland. All shared stories that underscore the need for immigration reform.

Ed Sackley, a district representative for U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, attended the event and said afterward reform means different things to different people. But, he said, Upton has long been behind major proposals that are consistent with the type of reform sought by the Michigan Organizing Project and Reform Immigration for America.

Sackley said an idea such as a “guest-worker” program, where immigrants would be allowed to work for different farmers during different growing seasons is an example of the reform that Upton favors.

“Fred is in favor of securing our borders, but he does not support deportation,” Sackley said.